In general the young say they are searching for the meaning of life and they show an interest in spirituality. This attention, though, can sometimes take the form of a search for psychological well-being rather than openness to encounter with the Mystery of the living God. Particularly in some cultures, many see religion as a private matter and they choose from a variety of spiritual traditions those elements in which they find their own convictions mirrored. There thus spreads a certain syncretism, which develops on the relativistic assumption that all religions are equal. Adherence to a community of faith is not seen by everyone as a privileged way to access the meaning of life, and it is accompanied and sometimes replaced by ideologies or by the cult of success in professional and economic terms, with a view to material self-fulfilment. Certain practices inherited from tradition remain alive, though, such as pilgrimages to shrines, which at times involve large numbers of young people, and expressions of popular piety, often linked to devotion to Mary and the Saints, which preserve the faith experience of a people.
TheoFonsAt the sources of the faith